The Mailman Still Delivers - Karl Malone discusses team changes and his personal plans - Interview

Basketball Digest, Jan, 2001 by Tom Mceachin

The two-time MVP discusses his future, his team's title chances, and his off-court persona

AT THE AGE OF 37 AND IN HIS 16th NBA season, Karl Malone still looks like he could seemingly play forever. He won his first league MVP award in 1997 at the age of 34, then won another trophy two years later. His statistics last season were actually an improvement over his 1998-99 MVP season.

And he's not done yet. The Utah Jazz's perennial All-Star is signed through the 2002-03 season, and he isn't ready to say that will be the end of his career. He still dreams of Winning an NBA title in Utah before he's through.

Malone entered the current season with 31,041 career points, third on the all-time list, just 378 points behind Wilt Chamberlain for second place. Perhaps in the distant future is a run at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time mark of 38,387 points.

The sometimes controversial, always consistent Malone expects to continue being a dominant force in the game, yet he knows one day he will have to step aside. With longtime running mate John Stockton, now 38, also nearing the end, dramatic changes are on the horizon in Utah. Malone, however, only has to look around the Jazz locker room to see players he believes can carry the franchise after he is gone.

He sees Bryon Russell, a second-round draft pick in 1993, who has evolved into a solid NBA performer. Malone has labeled Russell the future of the Jazz. And Malone anoints point guard Jacque Vaughn as a player ready to break out. Even straight-from-high-school DeShawn Stevenson, a 19-year-old rookie, has Malone excited about the future.

But first comes this season. The Jazz won the Midwest Division banner a year ago, but what is remembered by fans in Utah is a loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round of the playoffs. Rather than accepting that as the closing of the proverbial window of opportunity, Jazz executive Kevin O'Connor, in his first full offseason on the job, brought in veterans Donyell Marshall, John Starks, and Danny Manning thinking "win now." Along With the drafting of Stevenson and the re-signing of Vaughn, who inked a one-year deal, Malone has good reason to remain optimistic, not only about this season, but about the future of the Jazz as well

BASKETBALL DIGEST: You arrived at training camp this year in the best shape of your career. Did all of the roster moves this summer energize you?

KARL MALONE: It did, it definitely did. Kevin [O'Connor] did a hell of a job, and guys wanted to come here. It's really neat to see. In the beginning, I said, I know there are people out there who could help us. I kicked back to see what would happen. There's a lot to be said for [O'Connor] doing it, because a lot of people come in the first year and kind of just get their feet wet, but he just jumped right in it.

BD: At the end of last season, you talked about how much the team will miss having No. 14, Jeff Hornacek, around. Can John Starks help fill that void?

KM: Without a doubt, not only on offense, but I think he's going to bring great things to our team on the defensive end. He really gets after guys, and when his offense is pretty tough.

BD: The Jazz are likely to regularly have four players in the starting lineup that are 35 or older. How much of a factor will age be?

KM: People can talk about that age thing all they want to, but I think we put a trice team, and if we can stay healthy, we'll be just fine.

BD: What sort of an effect will all these newcomers have on the way you play?

KM: I have to adjust my game to them, which I welcome. I've always said at every training camp that I don't mind [adjusting], and now I have to go out and do that. I'm not going to get overpassive, but try to get everybody involved. This is the first time we've had this many weapons since I've been here. This is going to be fun.

BD: Is it enough to get the Jazz-back-to being a championship contender?

KM: Now it's up to all of us. We have to continue to pull for each other, and if we do that, we'll be fine. It's going to be a long season. We're going to have some ups and downs, but for the most part you hang in there and do the best you can.

BD: With-three seasons, including this current one, left on your contract, what goals do you have left for yourself before your playing days are through?

KM: I've got a personal goal and a team goal, which is to win a championship. My personal goal to play until I'm 40. My contract, I'll be 39 when it's over with, so [40 is] my personal goal. Will I reach that? I don't know, I'll just have to see.

BD: Is catching Kareem on the all-time scoring list among your goals?

KM: That's a long ways off, but that hasn't been one of those things I lay awake thinking about.

BD: You've watched Bryon Russell develop his whole career. What are the things that he brings to the Jazz?

KM: Bryon brings a lot of energy to our team. He seems to get us going on the defensive end when we need a spark. I've seen Bryon mature as a player over the last two or three years and it's really refreshing to see. I don't think he's going to go anywhere when he's a flee agent, so I would say he's going to be one of the cornerstones of this franchise for a lot of years. Bryon is a guy that can bring so much to this team and this community, and he's the future, without a doubt. The sky's the limit on what he wants to do.